Suggestion time: if you have friends or family who'd let you pet-sit for them or allow you to help them pet-sit, maybe that would be good practice? When I was a little kid, my family used to pet-sit for their friends often, so that's where I learned about a wide variety of pets. Pet-stting a cat for the first time was a bit of a disaster though, because that cat wasn't too friendly and my mom discovered that she's mildly allergic to cats. I'm far more fond of cats than my mom, which is good since most of my friends have cats and every punk house I've been to has a house cat.

As for going for an older pet like Tomara suggested, I don't know if I could resist the urge to get a puppy/kitten. I know they can be a terror, but I'm hoping the good will outweigh the bad in that case.

They're cute and cuddly for a couple of months at most, then they start wreaking havoc and if it's your first pet and difficult to train... This applies more to dogs than to cats, though. Cats wreak havoc and don't give a shit about what you think :P

But, if you have the patience and know what you're doing, it is very rewarding :)

Not all cats! My cat's nice and doesn't do... very many... bad things. But it's true what they say: if you tell a dog "don't do that," he'll interpret it as "don't do that ever." If you tell a cat "don't do that," she'll interpret it as "don't do that where I can see you." :D But I still love my kitty more than I ever did the dogs I had as a kid.

One thing, by the way, if you get a cat: Do NOT declaw your cat. As popular and "accepted" a procedure as it is, it's incredibly crippling to the animal. It lessens their ability to jump and balance, because what most people don't realise is that it removes a portion of the cat's finger. It also makes it impossible for them to defend themselves if they get out of the house.

If, for some reason you *must* declaw, only take the front claws. The back ones are vital for a cat to fight and climb. If those are gone, the cat is defenceless and essentially crippled for life.

What you most certainly should do? Spay/neuter your cat. There's far too many homeless cats out there because pet owners aren't responsible about the matter.

I have to pipe up that Purebreds aren't necessarily bad IF you do your homework. Make sure the breeder is licensed, and check on the background on the pet's parents, so you can catch any inbreeding or what not. NEVER ever adopt from a website. EVER.

I speak from experience because both of my dogs were purebred Miniature Schnauzers. My first one was pretty much a daddy's boy and was a bit agressive towards me because I was little and picked up a lot. I was competing for daddy's attention. My second dog was a bit of an Odie...in other words he wasn't all that bright (he always fell for the fake throw trick. ALWAYS) and liked to get into mischief, but he was the sweetest dog in the stratosphere and loved EVERYONE. When he passed last year, we all grieved.

So yeah, if you're gonna get a pet from ANYWHERE, research first. I'll keep following this thread though because I'm considering getting a kitten or cat, and a lot of this advice is useful.

The other side of the declawing issue is that if your cat is to stay primarily in your house and you don't take the front claws, you can expect everything within cat-height to be shredded into a fine mist. My sister has a pair of brother cats that have their front claws and there is a gaping hole in her wall where they have just scratched right through the wood and plaster. The entire bottom of her couch is also fringed, and it wasn't when she bought it.

The other side of the declawing issue is that if your cat is to stay primarily in your house and you don't take the front claws, you can expect everything within cat-height to be shredded into a fine mist. My sister has a pair of brother cats that have their front claws and there is a gaping hole in her wall where they have just scratched right through the wood and plaster. The entire bottom of her couch is also fringed, and it wasn't when she bought it.

That's... not true at all. I've owned no less than fourteen cats in my time, only two of which were shredders. Even then, I enforced the idea to them that only certain things were okay to scratch. If you do your research, no cat will become a shredder. Lemon citrus mixed in with water in a spray bottle is a great deterrent (most cats hate the smell of lemons), and you can buy many different kinds of repellant. Duct taping some objects temporarily is also a good measure since most cats hate the feel of it.

Suggestion time: if you have friends or family who'd let you pet-sit for them or allow you to help them pet-sit, maybe that would be good practice? When I was a little kid, my family used to pet-sit for their friends often, so that's where I learned about a wide variety of pets. Pet-stting a cat for the first time was a bit of a disaster though, because that cat wasn't too friendly and my mom discovered that she's mildly allergic to cats. I'm far more fond of cats than my mom, which is good since most of my friends have cats and every punk house I've been to has a house cat.

I've pet sat for neighbors before and it always went pretty well. They were always good for me. If something got tore up, it was generally in another room that I didn't see.

One thing, by the way, if you get a cat: Do NOT declaw your cat. As popular and "accepted" a procedure as it is, it's incredibly crippling to the animal. It lessens their ability to jump and balance, because what most people don't realise is that it removes a portion of the cat's finger. It also makes it impossible for them to defend themselves if they get out of the house.

If, for some reason you *must* declaw, only take the front claws. The back ones are vital for a cat to fight and climb. If those are gone, the cat is defenceless and essentially crippled for life.

I agree with you there. Seeing my neighbors cat get in fights a lot (and being frontal declawed), it seemed like he was often on the losing end. The only way i would consider getting rid of the frontal claws is if they were ripping everything to shreds. I imagine that's nothing that good training can't fix. I've also heard of alternate ways (like keeping the nails filed back or something) that helps too

BTW, if you get a pet, make sure you feed them well. A lot of people like to skimp on their pet food. Check the ingredients... try to avoid the stuff that's heavy on the grains toward the top of the list. The cheaper the food, the more likely it'll have corn at the top of the list, and uh... dogs and cats aren't meant to be eating corn as a primary component of their diet.

I pretty much alternate between Science Diet dry food and canned wet food. My cat prefers the wet food of course, but the dry food is there to keep her teeth healthy since underuse can lead to rotting.

Underuse is a for sure. My parents have a long haired chihuahua who just inhales everything..and never chews on bones, and shes had a couple teeth rot right out.

Since I do alot of volunteer work at the shelter near here, id definitely recommend a shelter. But always feel free to ask for histories, etc, if they have them. And good chances are, someone there will be able to let you know how the animal behaves, at least in a fashion. Im constantly helping out people with the dogs where I volunteer, as I tend to spend alot of time with them, and im always happy to help.

Obviously the type of dog is also somewhat important. Do you want a working dog (like herders) or are you looking for a companion dog (bred specifically to be a pet.) If you want help on breeds, just hit me up with a PM and ill help as much as I can. As for cats, the biggest thing is how well they are socialized. The place where I got my cat, was a smaller shelter in a rural area, and he didn't exactly get the greatest socialization. He took a very long time to warm up to me, since he was basically there from near birth to about 6 months when I got him. Hes also very anti social, despises me taking him outside the apartment, doesnt like me picking him up, and tends to hide from guests until he sees that ive been talking with them for a bit, and were sitting down.

He is however quite the personality, and loves to talk. Hes not much for petting, unless he comes to me for it. He can still be affectionate, and I love him, but alot of people would probably say hes quite standoffish and not affectionate enough for em.

Now even with socialization cats can act like that, but I tend to notice that cats who are either adopted as young kittens, or socialized decently, tend to be more affectionate, more social cats, so thats something to ask for/keep an eye out for. If you have any other specific questions like I said feel free to PM me. Im not saying im an expert (especially on cats) but I have learned quite a bit over the past year since I plan on going into some sort of animal raising/caretaking/somethingorother field.

Logged

-Give a man a fire, and hes warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and hes warm for the rest of his life.-